


The Veil

by camichats



Series: Imagine James and Sirius Prompts [58]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, James Lives - Freeform, Lily Lives - Freeform, M/M, Married Couple, Minor Remus Lupin/Lily Evans, Resurrection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 17:50:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14815995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: When Harry breaks into the Ministry and Sirius falls through the veil, he doesn't come out alone.





	The Veil

**Author's Note:**

> So funny story, this fic was sitting in my WIP's and it matched the prompt PERFECTLY. Originally it was supposed to be multiple chapters, but I hadn't gotten anywhere on it in so long, so I edited out some of the more obvious signs that it was supposed to be longer and poof! Here we are. So if there are points where you think 'well THAT was weird to bring up', that's why. I just missed it in the edit. 
> 
> For the prompt: "Hello, I'm drowning in prongsfoot feelings and I desperately need a "James comes back to life" story please? With a lot of hurt/comfort? Pretty please? Thank you so much :)"
> 
> Originally posted on [tumblr](https://imaginejamesandsirius.tumblr.com/post/174452949205/hello-im-drowning-in-prongsfoot-feelings-and-i)

Sirius was trying to ignore the call of the Archway. He wanted to blame how off kilter he was on that alone but couldn’t. It was that he was out of that house he hated for a brief taste of freedom and he already knew that he would have to go back soon; it was Harry being in danger; it was Bellatrix, his once beloved cousin trying to hurt good people; it was this _fucking_ Death Room that neither he nor Remus could stand to be in but could stand even less to let Harry be here; as always, it was the loss of James, crawling in the back of his mind like a parasite.

He laughed at a spell Bellatrix sent his way to stop from losing it. All he did these days was laugh to keep from crying. “Come on! You can do better than that.” And she did. Not a killing spell, not even after all this time, all that’s happened to them, but it knocked him back, and Remus, Merlin- Remus tried to stop him from falling into the Archway but all it did was drag him in too.

He thought it would kill them. Instead, a sensation like walking through a ghost and they were landing on the other side of the Archway, but there was more than just him and Remus. Sirius was laying on a body he was intimately familiar with. It couldn’t be but- “James?” he asked, eyes wide and jerking back to look at his face.

Oh Godric it was James. Sirius knew him better than he knew himself, and _it was him_. He thought of and dismissed ideas as quickly as they came. Not an imposter, not a ghost or a poltergeist, not a hallucination, not the afterlife. It was just- James.

James smiled at him. “Hey Si, fancy seeing you here. I’d love to talk but er, battle.”

Sirius blinked, and the sounds that he didn’t know he’d been numb to came back. He leaned back, helping James stand and saw Remus and Lily doing the same beside them.

Fortunately they weren’t needed because Sirius could only take his eyes off James for a scant second before he looked back. His fingers itched in need and as soon as the last Death Eater beat a hasty retreat he yanked James into a hug. “Don’t disappear,” he begged him.

“I won’t,” he promised.

Harry stepped towards them uncertainly. “Sirius? Remus? Wh-what’s going on?”

James and Sirius only half let go of each other and out of the corner of their eyes they could see Lily and Remus doing the same. “Oh wow,” James said enthusiastically, “he looks just like me. Not a copy of course, but still. Wow. Do you think I’ll look like my dad soon? I hope so.” James waved at him with a wide smile. “Hiya Harry.”

“He looks better than you,” Lily said. “Much better in my opinion. Hi Harry. You look good.”

The light-hearted banter squeezed at Sirius’s heart, and he tightened his grip on James. _Don’t disappear_. James gripped back. _I won’t_.

“Let’s get out of here before there’s trouble with the Ministry,” Alastor said, and while it was in his usual growl, there was no hiding that he was surprised.

Harry hovered between the four of them and his friends as they made their way out, unsure who he wanted to be around most. He settled between Lily and James, exchanging chit chat even though he obviously wanted more. Sirius understood the feeling.

He kept a vice-like grip on James, and James was holding him back just as tightly. It wasn’t until he noticed some of the kids staring that it hit him-- they didn’t know. They had no bloody clue what was going on. To them, he and James were best mates and that’s it. He didn’t even know if they knew that Remus and Lily had been close, let alone together. They just… had no idea. It was the most important aspect of Sirius’s life, and they _didn’t know_.

Harry, in particular, looked confused, glancing between James and Lily like the situation wasn’t adding up and he couldn’t figure out where the equation had gone wrong. Merlin, poor Harry. He’d been told stories of parents, and no one was going to tell him that Lily and James were barely friends at the end of their Hogwarts years; it didn’t make a good story. In Sirius’s opinion, two best mates from the moment they met, that fell into a relationship a few years later made a much better story than the one everyone ‘knew’ about James and Lily.

When they exited the Department of Mysteries, James said, “Wait, why are we in the Ministry?”

“Because our Harry here broke in,” Tonks answered with a proud grin.

“You _what_?” Lily said, at the same time that James said, “Yes!”

“You’re- what, fifteen?- that’s even better than we did, Pads.”

“You and Sirius broke into the Ministry?” Harry asked.

James nodded and Remus said, “In sixth year.  _They_ , on the other hand, didn’t get caught.” He raised a judgmental eyebrow at Sirius and James that they ignored. They knew that Remus was just peeved he hadn’t been invited along in the original trip.

“It was just the two of us, Harry, I’m sure you would have been fine if there were only two of you,” Sirius assured him.

“Could we maybe not encourage my son to break the law?” Lily said, her tone making it very clear that she wasn’t asking.

“C’mon Evans, who do you think you married?” Some of the people around them smiled or smirked, and all Sirius could think was that they didn’t get it; they didn’t get what the real joke was. They didn’t know that Remus and Lily were married and that’s why it was funny, because Remus was a Marauder, and no matter what everyone else thought about his role in the group, he broke the rules (and occasionally the law) just as much as the rest of them.

“Why did you break into the Ministry?” Ginny asked.

James laughed, shaking his head. “Merlin, I don’t even remember. It was fun though.” Sirius wondered if anyone else could tell he was lying. The answer wasn’t exactly group-friendly, so all he could do was hope someone didn’t call him out on it in front of everyone. There wasn’t an easy way to say that they’d snuck in to shag on some blood-purist arsehole’s desk, and even if there _was,_ no one here knew he and James were together. Sirius still had the polaroid they’d taken afterwards as proof, not that they ever planned on telling (or showing) anyone. They hadn’t even told Remus ~~and Peter~~ what they’d done there. It was in a locked box in Sirius’s old room right now. He hadn’t had the strength to take out the pictures in the tin and look through them, look through all the memories he and James had shared.

“How’d you do it?” Ginny asked, face perfectly innocent in a well-practiced manner that they instantly recognised.

“Don’t you dare,” Lily warned, glaring at them.

James held up one hand in surrender-- the other still firmly on Sirius-- and said, “Wasn’t going to.”

Lily scoffed and rolled her eyes, clearly not believing him, though this time James was telling the truth.

“How did you get together?” Hermione asked, looking between Lily and James, a small frown of confusion on her face.

Sirius and Remus tensed, but were too slow to stop Lily and James from reacting. “What?” Lily asked.

“We’re not together, never have been,” James said. The group stopped moving, the half in the front turning around or angling towards them.

“What?” Harry asked, and the poor boy looked like everything was falling apart around him. He looked at Sirius, hurt clear on his face.

Sirius winced, decidedly ignoring the looks James and Lily and- gods, everyone but Remus were giving him. “Albus thought it was a good idea,” he defended, and it sounded weak, even to him.

Fortunately, Remus came to his rescue. “There wasn’t much point in correcting everyone when both of you were dead.”

“Wait,” Lily said, “so you’re telling me that you two raised Harry and just- what, never told him the truth?”

“Let’s talk about this later,” Sirius said loudly, motioning for the people in front of them to start walking again. Slowly, they did, but there were numerous back glances by Harry, his friends, and some of the members of the Order. It was beyond clear that everyone wanted to know what the fuck was going on, but thankfully they didn’t ask. Yet.

Lily, for her part, looked disgruntled at not being able to get answers and getting them _now_.

“Black!” Moody called from the front. “Go ahead so the Ministry doesn’t see you here.”

Sirius hesitated, looking at James. “Why-” James started, but stopped when Sirius shook his head.

“I’ll keep an eye on him for you,” Remus said.

Sirius nodded in thanks at him and gave James a tight hug, then ducked into the floo before he could attach himself to James and never let go like he wanted.

Everyone was brought back to Grimmauld Place, but Sirius suspected that was because James had kicked up a fuss at the idea of not immediately seeing him. Molly had certainly tried to usher everyone back to the Burrow after ‘such a traumatic experience’ and- Gods. Sirius shook his head and clasped his hands together tightly so he wouldn’t reach for a drink. Harry was here, and that, alone, was enough reason to keep the bottle in the cupboard. James being alive again negated his most common reason for drinking anyway. He didn’t need to numb the pain of loss when James wasn’t lost.

Sirius surveyed everyone that streamed into the large dining area. Molly was here now-- which was _not_ something Sirius was thrilled about-- Alastor wasn’t, and neither was Kingsley or Tonks. Great. Just Molly, Remus, and a bunch of teenagers-- and James and Lily, but they didn’t really count because of _course_ they were here.

“So?” he asked, knowing that James (and Remus) would know what he was asking.

“Me and Lily are officially alive!” James said, throwing himself in the chair beside Sirius, scooting it closer, and putting his arm around Sirius’s shoulders. “Well, not yet. They’re officially considering saying we’re alive, but it’s just some bullshit thing about testing our cores tomorrow and _then_ we’re alive! With heartbeats and wands and all that rot. Albus said he’d be by when he could.”

“ _James_ ,” Lily said sternly. “Language.”

“He’s fifteen, not one, Lils. Believe me, he’s fine.”

She put her hands on her hips indicating that from where she was standing, it was definitely not fine.

“I curse in front of him,” Sirius added helpfully. Of course, all _that_ did was make her glare at both of them, though that was hardly new.

Molly made a loud, dismissive noise, turning their heads her direction. Except Sirius and Remus, the former keeping his eyes on the grain of the table in front of him, and the latter still staring at Lily like he couldn’t believe she was there.

James raised an eyebrow. “Something you want to say Molly?”

“Just that I’m not sure you should trust the raising of Harry to someone like him,” Molly said, her voice deceptively light, like she wasn’t jabbing at Sirius’s weak point.

“‘Someone like him’?” James repeated, his voice gone dangerous, a fact she didn’t seem to pick up.

“James,” Sirius tried, but Molly spoke over him.

“He’s a wanted criminal, he’s in no position to be raising a child with that status and whatever effects Azkaban had on him. I know he’s innocent, but he’s still not the sort of person Harry can look up to, and he needs that! Really, James, what were you thinking naming him godfather?”

James was very carefully keeping his breath measured. “Molly. I suggest you leave before I do something everyone insists I should regret.”

The room was deadly silent. Sirius was tense in his chair. He usually fought back, told her where she could shove her opinions, but he just couldn’t tonight. James was staring at her evenly, letting her know beyond the shadow of a doubt that she had crossed a line and she had better not give him an excuse to get out of his chair.

Finally, Lily broke the silence. “Come Molly, let’s get the kids settled.”

Awkwardly, they followed her out, Ron and Hermione tugging on Harry’s hand to get him to follow. “They’ll still be here tomorrow,” she whispered. Harry hesitated a moment longer, then nodded, but came back for hugs from all of them.

“See you in the morning sprog,” Sirius said, trying to give him a smile.

Remus left alongside Lily, leaving Sirius and James in the large room by themselves. When the door swung shut, James said, “Azkaban?”

Sirius didn’t respond. He just kept looking at the table. How old is it? It had been this smooth since he was a child, and it was obviously aged. Probably some antique, one of the many throughout Grimmauld, but at least this one was harmless. It was just a table.

“Sirius. You didn’t raise Harry did you? Remus didn’t either did he.”

“No.”

James let out a long breath, resting his forehead on Sirius’s shoulder. “How long?”

“What?”

“How long were you in Azkaban?”

Sirius swallowed and just shook his head. He didn’t want to talk about this and at the moment, he refused to. “I’m knackered. Let’s just- go to bed.”

James sighed, but nodded. “Okay.” He lifted his head from Sirius’s shoulder and kissed his cheek.

Surprised, Sirius jerked away from him and to his feet on the other side of his chair.

James blinked at him, still awkwardly frozen in the position he was in before Sirius moved. “Er, sorry- is there.” He stopped, chewed on his lip, and averted his eyes. “Is there someone else?”

A harsh laugh left Sirius before he knew it was happening. “No. You surprised me is all.” He walked to him and held out a shaking hand.

James took it slowly, careful not to spook him. “Are we… sharing a bed?”

“Unless you object.”

James shook his head vigorously. “Not at all. I missed you,” he added in a whisper, and it was then that Sirius remembered. James hadn’t been able to really spend time with him in over a year, the war keeping them apart except for stolen visits here and there, and he didn’t have the luxury of thinking it was a permanent state of affairs.

Hand shaking slightly, Sirius threaded their fingers and breathed. It felt like the first real breath he’d taken since seeing Harry again, and before that it had been _years_.

James took in the decor as Sirius led them to where he was staying now. His eyes lingered on the door of Sirius’s childhood room, remembering times when he’d snuck in, sometimes for the night, sometimes just to get Sirius out. Why was he staying here? It was easily the most hated location in Sirius’s life and he was _living_ here? James knew he was missing fourteen years worth of information, but how was there anything that would explain this?

Once the door was shut behind them, Sirius locked and silenced it. James was tempted to make a quip about them having some fun, but the atmosphere was too solemn for that. Instead, James wrapped his arms around Sirius. “I think I need to borrow some clothes. Resurrection didn’t give me any pyjamas.”

“D’you really need clothes?” Sirius asked, fingers plucking at the bottom of James’s shirt.

James blinked in surprise. “I didn’t think you’d be in the mood.”

“Fourteen years, love.” He slid his hands under James’s shirt and felt his stomach. Warm, warm skin that he’d practically forgotten. “Fourteen years.” He tucked his face against James’s neck and breathed him in for a long moment before kissing the skin there. “Do you still love me?” he asked shakily.

“Yes,” James said immediately. “I love you. I love you so much Sirius.” He threaded his fingers through Sirius’s hair and tilted his own head to the side to make more room for him. “Do you remember our wedding?”

“Yes,” he breathed, hands moving to James’s back. His nails marked red lines against James and he shuddered. “Tell me anyways.”

“I spent five minutes telling you how much I loved you. Then I said words are inadequate and the only reason you know how I feel is because you feel the same way.”

“Do you remember our vows? What I said?” His hands were grazing James’s body, hungry and wanting, but also savoring.

“You said I was the piece of you you couldn’t stand to lose,” he recalled quietly. “I’m sorry Siri, I’m so sorry.” He leaned back, pulling Sirius’s head from his neck. “I’m here now. Again. I’m not leaving you ever again, I swear baby, I’m with you forever now.”

“You’d better be,” he said, finally slotting their mouths together.

**Author's Note:**

> This is from a prompt driven blog @[imaginejamesandsirius](https://imaginejamesandsirius.tumblr.com) on tumblr. Feel free to drop by!


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